Improvement in mowing-machines



figures l UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE'.

IMPROVEMENT iN MowiNe-ivlAci-iINES.l

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 4,734, dated September 3, 1846.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER M. WIL- SON, of New York, in the county of New York andV Stateof New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in the Machine for Mowing and Reaping Grain, Grass, Ste.; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the principle or character which distinguishes them from all other things before known, and of the manner of making, constructing, and using the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, making part of this specification, in Which- Figure 1 is a plan of the machine; Fig. 2, a longitudinal vertical section taken at the line XX of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3, a view of the bottom of the machine.

The sameletters indicate like parts in all thev In the machine secured to me by Letters Patent, bearing date the 15th day of May, in

the vear 1837, for improvements on a machine v previously secured to me by Letters Patent, the 10th day of June, in the year 1885, the grain or grass is cut by means of cutters attached to the lower end of the drum of the gatheringwheel, their cutting-edges forming segments of circles eccentric to the wheel, the heel of each cutter being at the greatest distance from the center of the said gathering-wheel, so as to leave an offset between the heel of each cutter and the forward part of the succeeding ones, so that in rotating, as the Whole machine is moved forward, there is a portion of each cutter that does not out in consequence of the offset between the heel of one and the forward. part of the next cutter, thus losing time and cuttingsurface, and at the same time leaving too great an accumulation ot' grass or grain for the eiective part of the cutters to act on. The machine is moved forward by horses' placed behind, and therefore the cutting and gathering Wheel has to be so connected with the main frame as to admit ofrrising and falling to adapt itself to the inequalities of the surface of the aground. This part of the operation is necessarilydefective, as the cutters cannot follow the curves of the undnlations of the earths surface with facility, for the push of the horses tends to force the forward part of the machine into the ground. The runners are used to guide the cutters; but these occasion much loss of power, and wheels' cannot be introduced from the v'ery structure ofthe wheel, which ywill not admit them Within, and they cannot ofcourse be placed outside for various obvious reasons,such as passing overand mashing down the grain or grass. rlhe grinding of the knives is effected by their passage in their rotation over a permanent grinder, which does not, however, give the required edge or effectually sharpen them. The objectof theimprovements-which I now desire to secure by Letters Patent is to remedy these defects, which is ett'eetually accomplished. A

They consist, first, in making the cuttingedgesot' the cutters of a more gradual curve, and rounding 01T the'hecl, so as to continue cutting as the machine passes to the uncut grain or grass, to avoid throwing too unich work on the heel part of the cutters, and at the same time to bring into action a greater extent ot' cutting-Surface for a given size of wheel than could possibly be attained by the previous mode; secondly, the cutting and gathering wheel has its bearings in the main frame of the machine, and the horses are harnessed toa frame, which is jointed to the forward part of v'the main frame but back of the center ot' the cutting-wheel, and extending diagonally to the side, so that the horses walk in the swath previously cut and pass over the irregularities of the surface, leaving the cutters free to follow the undulating surface; thirdly, I connect the drum of the cutting and gatherin g wheel to its shaft by means of curved or dished arms, and bend'the runners up within the drum to receive guide-wheels to adapt the cutters to the inequalities ot' the surface of the ground, instead of relying entirely on the friction of the runners; and, fourthly, I grind the upper beveled edges of the cutters by means of a horizontal rotating grinder, the under surface of which is beveled to the inclination of the beveled faces of the cut-ters, and combine this with a permanent grinder, over which the cutters pass to remove the wire edges produced by the rotating grinder.

In the accompanying drawings, a represents the main frame ofthe machine,and b the horsen frame, jointed to it at c c c c, the part a. of the inain frame projecting into and forward of the join ts ofthe horse-frame to receive the bearings of the shaft d, which carries the drum of the gathering-wheel e by means oftwo sets ot'arm s, fj", the upper set,f, being straight, and the others,f, extending from near the top of the '-hub in a curve to within a short distance of .the guide-wheels they are also connected together by a bar, l, that forms the lower step of the shaft d ofthe cutting and gathering wheel.

The cutters m are secured to the lower edge of the drum ofthel gathering-Wheel by means of screw-bolts u, that pass through the ange 0 ofthe drum, through a slot in the cutters, and then through an annular plate, q, below, (see Fig. 2,) so that by loosening these bolts the cutters can be removed and set at pleasure.' The form of each cutter is fully represented in the drawings, where it will be seen that from the point 1 to 2 it is nearly straight, and from .2 to 3, where it joins the point l of the next cutter, it forms a half-circle, or nearly so. The periphery of the drum is armed with pro- Vjecting ribs r, extending from the flange o to the upper edge and inclining upward in the direction of the rotation, so as to carry the vgrain to the side of the machine and lay it properly on the ground. This wheel is driven by a bevel-wheel, s, on the shaft or axle of the ruiming-wheels t t, (as in my previously-patented machine,) which drives'bya bevel-pinion, u, on one end of a horizontal shaft, c, the other end of which has a bevel-wheel, w, that drives a bevel-wheel, x, on the upper end ofthe shaft of the gathering-wheel. On the same shaft or axle of the running-wheels t t there is another beveled wheel, y, that drives another horizontal shaft, z, which communicates motion in like manner to the vertical shaft e ofthe grindingwheel g', the under face of which is beveled to correspond with the bevel which forms the cutting-edge of the cutters, so that the cutters are ground by their own motion and that of the grinding-wheel. The shaft of this grinding- Wheel has its bearings in a sliding fra-me operated by a lever, h', which extends to the seat z" of the driver, so that he can "throw it in and out of gear at pleasure. After passing under and having their upper faces ground by the rotary grinder, for the purpose of grinding the under face to remove the wire. edge, the cutters in their rotation pass over lanother permanent grinder, 7c', attached to the end of a spring, l',

- provided with a regulating screw-rod, m', and

nuts n' a', by which the pressure can be regulated. A water-vesse|, o', can be placed on the frame, with a spout to drop water on the grinding-wheels and cutters.

Instead ofthe sliding frame and lever, other known means oflifting the grinding-wheel from the face of the cutters may be substituted.

What Ielaim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. Making the heel ot' the cutters rounded when a number of cutters are combined together on a wheel to cutgrass or grain by the rotation and vforward movement of the machine, as herein described.

2. Jointing the horse-frame to the forward part of the main frame, but back of the shaft of the cutting-wheel, so as to have the horses placed forward and to the side of the cutters, in combination with a wheel of cutters for cutting grain or grass, so that the cutters may follow the undulation of the ground independent of and not aected by the up-and-down movement of the horse, as herein described.

3. The employment of the guide-wheels, in combination with the cutting' and gathering wheel, connected with its shaft' by means of curved or dishedarms, as herein described.

4t. In combination with the curved cutters, attached to and forming the cutting-Wheel, the rotating grinding-wheel for grinding the npper beveled face ofthe cutters, as described.

5. In combination with this, the grinder, for grinding the under surface of the cutters, as described.

JOHN M. MAY, ALEX. P. BROWNE. 

